"IEATRCWS," the red truck's license plate defiantly proclaimed. Of course the truck's owner didn't really dine on endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers, but like many other longleaf pine forest owners in the North Carolina Sandhills and elsewhere in the Southeast in the mid-1990s, he was wary of conservationists and Endangered Species Act restrictions. The woodpecker (Picoides borealis) was listed as endangered in 1970, and more than two decades later, some progress had been made in conserving its habitat on state and federal lands, such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina. In contrast, recovery efforts languished on private lands in the Sandhills and elsewhere in the bird's range.
And for good reason. The Endangered Species Act offered landowners no encouragement to practice the land management that the woodpeckers needed. In addition, good longleaf stewardship was a risky proposition. Along with red-cockaded woodpeckers came legal obligations that could restrict a landowner, perhaps from cutting timber when income was needed.
Indeed, some landowners cut their trees early just to avoid any chance of future woodpecker problems. In such cases, not only did the law not help the species -- it made things worse.
Creating a new incentive for landowners
To resolve this dilemma, a group of state and federal government employees, private conservation groups and other red-cockaded woodpecker experts began discussions in the early 1990s. Their consensus was that landowners did want to be good land stewards and didn't dislike red-cockaded woodpeckers, but couldn't be recruited as conservation partners without eliminating their liability. A landowner who didn't fear the burden of new land use restrictions was far more likely to volunteer to help the bird.
The group turned to Endangered Species Act expert and Environmental Defense attorney Michael Bean to find a means of regulatory relief. By late fall 1994, the group outlined the basic concept that Sandhills Area Land Trust attorney Marshall Smith dubbed "Safe Harbor" -- a name that reflects the policy's benefits for both wildlife and landowners. Bean ran the idea by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who was enthusiastic. Within weeks, Safe Harbor was approved.
Finding the first Safe Harbor landowners
The next step was the most critical. Unless landowners volunteered for Safe Harbor, the new conservation tool would not be an on-the-ground reality, regardless of how many government agencies or environmental groups endorsed it. Would landowners actually be willing to invite an endangered species to take up residence on their property? Two who promptly said "yes" were the Pinehurst Resort and Country Club and private forester Jerry Holder.
Brad Kocher, then Pinehurst's maintenance director and now vice-president grounds and golf course management, recognized Safe Harbor's benefits as soon as he heard about the new program. Helping the woodpecker would be entirely compatible with golf course operations. He sold the idea to his boss, and on June 20, 1995, Pinehurst Resort and Country Club became the nation's first Safe Harbor landowner.
Catching pinestraw rustlers and building trust
Sandhills landowner Jerry Holder was familiar with both the economic value of the longleaf pine forest and the need to make the Endangered Species Act more sensitive to landowner concerns. The private forester derived part of his income by collecting and selling pinestraw -- the 8-inch longleaf needles that fell to the ground -- for mulch and landscaping material.
In 1995, pinestraw harvesting was a lucrative $50 million industry in North Carolina. Thus illegal poaching by pinestraw rustlers was a major concern of Holder and other pinestraw entrepreneurs, who worked both on their own land and under contract on land owned by others. Holder found allies in Michael Bean and Melinda Taylor, also of Environmental Defense, who joined him in an effort to persuade local sheriffs to stop the poaching. That legal assistance won Bean and Taylor not only landowners' gratitude but also the trust that was essential for advancing Safe Harbor. Jerry Holder became one of the earliest landowners to enroll in the nation's first Safe Harbor Agreement.
Holder's contributions to Safe Harbor didn't end when he enrolled his land. As a past president of the North Carolina Pine Needle Producers Association and a well-known Sandhills landowner, he has been a valuable link to other area landowners. Years later, he is an ambassador for Safe Harbor on the national level, encouraging other landowners to participate.
Celebrating the first ten years
In May of this year, several dozen landowners, conservationists, and state and federal agency officials gathered at Pinehurst to thank Safe Harbor landowners, recognize key participants in Safe Harbor's creation and celebrate its success. There was plenty to celebrate: 91 Sandhills landowners had enrolled 48,127 acres as of May. The agreement had been the model for Safe Harbors in other states, including six more for the woodpecker. At present, more than a half a million acres are enrolled in red-cockaded woodpecker Safe Harbor agreements, and about 35% of the private land woodpecker groups live on Safe Harbor properties where the number of groups has increased by 10%. And what about the license plate on the red truck? Its owner, Dougald McCormick, was one of the first to sign up for Safe Harbor. These days a Sandhills landowner just might get a license plate that says I GROW RCWS.Environmental Defense
